NIKE engineers knit for performance With new Nike Flyknit technology, yarns and fabric variations are precisely engineered only where they are needed for a featherweight, formfitting and virtually seamless upper. NIKE has engineered knit for performance to create running footwear that features only the essentials. Employing a new technology called Nike Flyknit, yarns and fabric variations are precisely engineered only where they are needed for a featherweight, formfitting and virtually seamless upper. With all the structure and support knitted in, the Nike Flyknit Racer’s upper and tongue weigh just 34 grams (1.2 ounces). The whole shoe weighs a mere 160g (5.6 ounces) for a size 9, which is 19% lighter than the Nike Zoom Streak 3, a shoe worn by first, second and third place athletes in the men’s marathon at the 2011 World Championships. While reducing shoe weight is one aspect of helping runners, the Nike Flyknit upper is also engineered for a precision fit, creating a feeling of a second skin.

An additional environmentally sustainable benefit to Nike Flyknit is that it reduces waste because the one-piece upper does not use the multiple materials and material cuts used in traditional sports footwear manufacture. Nike Flyknit is truly a minimalist design with maximum return. The inspiration for Nike Flyknit was born from the common runner feedback, craving a shoe with the qualities of a sock: a snug fit that goes virtually unnoticed to the wearer. But all the features that make a sock desirable have proven to make them a bad choice for a running upper. An inherently dynamic material like yarn generally has no structure or durability. NIKE embarked on a four-year mission of micro-engineering static properties into pliable materials. It required teams of programmers, engineers and designers to create the proprietary technology needed to create the knit upper. The next steps were to map out where the specific yarn and knit structures were needed. Applying 40 years of knowledge from working with runners, NIKE refined the precise placement of support, flexibility and breathability – all in one layer.

The result is precision engineering in its purest form, performance on display. Every element has a purpose: resulting in one of the lightest, best fitting running shoes NIKE has ever made. The Nike Flyknit Racer is the marathon shoe that the world’s best runners from all over the world, including those from Kenya, Great Britain, Russia and the US will wear in this spring’s marathons and in London this summer.walking shoes hiking boots With the knowledge gained from working with the worlds best marathon runners, NIKE has also created an everyday running shoe, the Nike Flyknit Trainer+, which at 220 grams or 7.7 ounces, will bring the weight and fit benefits of Nike Flyknit to runners of all levels.nike shoes for toddlers Both models will be available for all runners this coming July.nike football shoes australia

Nike Flyknit will debut in a collection that celebrates the performance attributes of the technology, while at the same time hints at its future capabilities - HTM Flyknit. Learn more about the collection here. Learn more about Nike’s Summer of Innovation products and technologies. HOW TO CLEAN NIKE SHOES For best results, clean your Nike shoes immediately after exposing them to dirt. Remove excess dirt first using a soft-bristled brush (shoe brush or old toothbrush) to clean the outsole. Mix warm water and a small amount of laundry detergent to create a slightly soapy mixture. Apply a small amount of the water/detergent mixture to a sponge, soft cloth or soft brush and clean affected areas. Apply a small amount of warm water to another sponge or soft cloth to remove any excess detergent. Air dry the shoes at room temperature. Repeat these steps to attempt to remove persistent stains. Nike doesn't recommend any alternative cleaning methods, placing your shoes in a washing machine or dryer, or using any other products on your shoes such as bleach or other chemicals.

Saddle soap can soften leather and is recommended only on leather components of shoes that aren't subjected to excessive stress. Don't use saddle soap on soccer cleats, basketball shoes, golf shoes, training shoes or any other shoes designed for activities involving lateral movement. CLEANING INSOLES TO REDUCE SHOE ODOR Remove the insoles from your shoes. Follow the same shoe cleaning steps listed above. Air dry completely before putting the insoles back in the shoes. If these steps don't reduce shoe odor, replace the insoles. Replacement insoles are available at most sporting goods and shoe stores. FAQ Feedback – How can we improve this answer? Material Matters: Nike Flyknit Sneaker brands love to introduce us to the latest advancements in the footwear world. If you compare some of the shoes out there these days you’ll notice the big brands are engaged in a technological arms race in a quest for sneaker world domination. In recognition of the pioneering spirit we’ve decided to break down some of these features, week by week, in our new Material Matters series.

Each edition will talk about some teched out aspect of the sneaker game, new and old, to help build a bigger picture of what goes on behind the mesh curtain of the industry. Take a minute to think about how many different sneaker uppers you’ve seen – various construction techniques, materials, support elements – it would take a seriously long time to list them. With all of these technologies vying for superiority, the advent of an entirely new production technique and subsequent dominance of the market is an insanely big achievement. It seems like wherever you look these days there’s a knitted shoe, it was only half a decade ago that they didn’t exist. The sock-like fashion styles line the shelves of boutiques, while the high collared performance footwear dominates athletic tracks and sports arenas from the professional level down Looking back through the annals of sneaker history there seems to have been constant to-and-fro, which would see designers sacrifice light-weight construction to build up elements of support ­– or the other way around.

During the 70s runners favoured minimally reinforced nylon uppers, but the running world soon became concerned with the anatomy of the foot and the long term implications of such flimsy footwear. On top of that there was a need for shoes that could support lateral movements and different running styles, particularly as popularity for aerobic exercise and cross training grew among the wider population. During the 80s bulky shoes like the Air Trainer 1 offered unparalleled support with features like the forefoot strap and mid cut collar. At the same time Nike produced the Sock Racer, as minimal an athletic shoe as the world had seen, the textile runner was largely overlooked until later years. Eventually athletic shoes started to take on more substantial forms with layers of leather, plastic structures, built up ankle support and adjustable fasteners. The performance advantages of well fitting, supportive sneaker had become undeniably clear, for the next few decades the quest for light-weight support would dominate the technological developments of the athletic footwear industry.

Nike attempted to answer these questions with shoes like the Kukini – a rubber support cage extending across a minimal upper. In 2003 Nike even attempted to change the focus with the Mayfly, a shoe built to survive for a mere 100km, just enough to last a single marathon and its pre-event training. In 2012 Nike presented the world with a certified game changer – the Flyknit Racer. The basic idea behind the runner was to produce a shoe that had the form fitting qualities of a sock but also static structure of a sneaker. It took Nike four years to precision engineer the woven structure so it could give support in all the right areas. After all that hard work Nike developed ways to alternate weave structure and yarn (yarn is the spun filament or fibre used to weave, as opposed to thread which is used to sew) properties to enable the upper to move in certain ways. Have you ever noticed how some fabrics stretch more in some directions than others? The incredibly clever people at Nike were able to utilise these properties, on a minute scale, to weave support into the shoe.

The result is a form fitting, almost seamless shoe that weighed less and used less material than any other shoe available at the time. True to form, Nike remained tight lipped about how they were producing the Flyknit Racer. What was clear was that a flat knitting machine was being used, creating a single piece upper with a closed selvedge all the way around and the Flywire lacing support structure woven in. They announced that they had developed variations of their own polyester yarn, each with different denier or tensile properties according to their intended use – more elasticity would be needed in areas that require stretch, for example. Months after Nike’s Flyknit racer released adidas launched their first Primeknit shoe, the adizero Primeknit. The approach adidas took to promoting the shoe shed a bit of light on their process with the release of a video showing the production of the shoe from start to finish. The video showed the particular type of Stoll flat knitting machine they were using (pictured left), as well as a close up look at their tensioning set up and needle beds.

There were obvious differences from the beginning, the Nike shoe was a much more complicated knitting pattern, while the adidas Primeknit shoe used jacquard techniques to produce its finish. In the end, the similarities Nike saw in the adizero Primeknit were sufficient for them to take adidas to court over the patent infringements. Eventually the case was dismissed and Primeknit was back on the shelves after a short break. To this day Nike continue to battle against infringements on their Flyknit patents, most recently taking Sketchers to court over claims on multiple copyrights (the case remains unsettled). Despite all of their efforts, however, no other manufacturer has been able to construct a knitted shoe with the same precise engineering and overall quality of Nike’s Flyknit. Aside from producing great shoes, knit technology has done big things for the footwear industry. Compared to cut and sew footwear, Flyknit construction is said to reduce the waste left over from each shoe by about 60 percent, due to the fact that there are no offcuts – between 2012 and 2016 Nike has reduced waste by over 1,500,000 kilograms.